White Barrow, a long barrow

Reasons for Designation

The most complete and extensive survival of chalk downland archaeological remains in central southern England occurs on Salisbury Plain, particularly in those areas lying within the Salisbury Plain Training Area. These remains represent one of the few extant archaeological "landscapes" in Britain and are considered to be of special significance because they differ in character from those in other areas with comparable levels of preservation. Individual sites on Salisbury Plain are seen as being additionally important because the evidence of their direct association with each other survives so well. Twenty-eight Neolithic long barrows have been identified in the Salisbury Plain Training Area. As a monument type long barrows are sufficiently rare nationally that, unless severely damaged, all examples surviving as earthworks are considered to be of national importance.

White Barrow is a well preserved example of its class which, despite some disturbance from burrowing animals, exhibits a largely original profile. The barrow is known from geophysical survey to contain archaeological remains providing information about Neolithic beliefs, economy and environment.

Details

The monument includes a long barrow lying across a north east facing spur below the crest of Copehill Down. The barrow has a trapezoidal mound 85m long, orientated east-west, which reaches a maximimum width of 35m and a maximimum height of 2.5m at its eastern end. The mound tapers to the western end where it is 23m wide and 1.8m high. Flanking either side of the mound are well defined ditches from which material was quarried for its construction. The southern, upslope, side ditch is 1.8m deep and up to 19m wide and the northern, downslope, side ditch is 0.9m deep and up to 12m wide. At the eastern end of the barrow the overall width of the mound and flanking ditches is 66m, reducing to 54m at its western end. A geophysical survey undertaken by the Ancient Monuments Laboratory suggests the presence of a forecourt at the eastern end of the mound. Excluded from the scheduling are the boundary fence surrounding the monument and the badger proof chain-link netting that covers it, although the ground beneath these features is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

31187

Legacy System:

RSM

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